When he joined the Rockets, he didn't have a superstar teammate like Iverson.

This was a season in which the national team erupted.

Under Gentry's coaching, Wei Guo could focus on offense. He scored 100 points in a single game and achieved another quadruple-double. It seems that no record matters to Wei Guo anymore.

......

The weather is getting colder; it's almost the end of the year.

In a few days it will be Christmas, the most anticipated holiday for people in the US. The only connection between this holiday and Weiguo is that most teams don't have games, but Weiguo still has to play.

There were two matches scheduled for the Christmas Day game.

One game is Lakers vs. Pistons, and the other is Rockets vs. 76ers.

If it weren't for Wei Guo joining the team, the Rockets wouldn't have needed to play the Christmas Day game.

......

December 23, before the Christmas battle.

The Rockets and Jazz have one more game, which will be the last moment of glory for the Utah Jazz duo.

Harpring transferred from the 76ers to the Jazz. Before the game, he texted Wei Guo. They hadn't seen each other for several months, and he missed Wei Guo. He even invited Wei Guo to have a late-night snack after the game, saying he knew a very good Chinese restaurant.

Starting lineup for this match:

Rockets: Francis, Mobley, Wei Guo, Thomas, Yao Ming

Jazz: Stockton, Calbert, Harpling, Malone, Ostertag

This was the first time Wei Guo had encountered a combination of Stockton and Malone. Last season with the 76ers, Wei Guo missed two games due to injury, one of which was against the Jazz. They faced each other again later, but Malone did not play.

Yao Ming has become more and more mature.

He stood in the center circle, ready to jump for the ball with Ostertag.

Halprin stood next to Wei Guo, winking and grinning, "Brother Wei, please be gentle~ I'll treat you to dinner after the match."

"Okay~"

Wei Guo made an 'ok' gesture.

......

Before the game, Jazz head coach Sloan's defensive strategy was a combination of single-player defense and zone defense.

One-on-one defense means having Harprin defend Weiguo.

Harpring and Weiguo were teammates for a year, so he knows Weiguo better than anyone else on the Jazz. Not to mention him, no one on the entire Jazz team can guard Weiguo one-on-one.

"Beep!!!"

The match began with the referee's whistle.

Yao Ming passed the ball to Francis, who dribbled to the frontcourt and handed it to Wei Guo.

Wei Guo turned his back to Harprin, faked a move, and then flipped over for a jump shot.

"Whoosh!!!"

The basketball went into the net.

2-0!!!

The Rockets scored first.

Sloan stood on the sidelines, saying nothing.

When facing a player like Wei Guo, you first gamble on his shooting touch. If Wei Guo is on fire, you have to double-team him. However, Wei Guo can easily beat Harprin one-on-one, which is something that can't be helped.

"Victory is certain! Victory is certain! Victory is certain!"

The unified chants of the home fans were very impressive.

Although Utah is a small market, its fans are very devoted, especially Stockton and Malone, who played together in Utah for nearly 20 years and have a huge number of die-hard fans in Utah!

Stockton dribbles on the perimeter, while Weiguo defends Stockton.

Malone sets a screen for Stockton outside the three-point line and then cuts to the basket. Usually, at this point, the player guarding Stockton is forced to switch onto Malone. Malone's face-up offensive skills are top-notch among power forwards, and once the switch occurs, Malone can easily exploit the smaller opponent's size.

This combination gave the Bulls a real headache back then.

But...

Gentry easily broke Stockton and Malone's pick-and-roll tactics.

This time, Malone rolled to the basket after a pick-and-roll, and Wei Guo was forced to defend Malone. Stockton hesitated after receiving the ball, and instead of passing it to Malone as usual, he chose to shoot himself.

Stockton has a reliable mid-range and long-range shot.

But...

The young Francis still had no problem defending Stockton.

"bang~~~"

Stockton missed his shot.

Yao Ming grabbed the defensive rebound, passed the ball to Wei Guo, who then passed it to Francis, and then slowly ran towards the frontcourt.

"Depend on..."

Sloan was in a bad mood.

Stockton and Malone had been playing the pick-and-roll for over a decade, but when they encountered someone like Wei Guo who could defend indiscriminately, their pick-and-roll was completely broken.

......

Francis drove to the basket for a layup, but was blocked by Osgottat.

"Bang!!!"

The basketball hit the backboard but didn't even touch the rim.

Yao Ming grabbed the offensive rebound in front of Malone, and Malone then physically challenged Yao Ming.

Yao Ming faked a shot, then turned around and faked another shot, before turning around again, leaving Malone behind.

"Whoosh!!!"

Yao Ming hooked the ball in with a backhand stroke and put it into the basket.

4-0!!!

Malone steadied himself, then exclaimed in astonishment, "Dream Steps?!"

Yao Ming used Hakeem Olajuwon's signature Dream Shake, which wasn't taught by Olajuwon, but by Wei Guo.

actually...

Wei Guo hasn't drawn the Hakeem Olajuwon card yet, but he has Yao Ming and Kobe Bryant cards. Both of them learned the Dream Shake from Olajuwon, and with what Wei Guo knows, he should be more than capable of teaching Yao Ming.

......

Stockton and Malone's pick-and-roll tactics were broken by Wei Guo, and the Jazz had a very bad start.

Ma Long attempted several one-on-one attacks against Wei Guo, but failed to score.

13:1!!!

The Rockets led by 12 points at the start.

The Jazz only scored 1 point from Malone's free throws, a foul committed by Wei Guo.

"pause!!!"

Sloan had no choice but to call a timeout.

"If I were ten years younger, I could also go toe-to-toe with Wei Guo."

Ma Long was feeling down.

He rarely encountered anyone who could put him at a disadvantage in physical confrontations. Wei Guo didn't look particularly strong, so how could he be so powerful?

"Don't rely too much on pick-and-rolls."

Sloan said in a deep voice, "I've observed that Wei Guo twice managed to prevent the pick-and-roll from taking place ahead of time, which reminds me of an old rival of mine, Pippen!"

In the game against the Bulls that year, Pippen effectively broke the pick-and-roll tactics of the Utah Jazz duo.

Although...

Pippen and Weiguo were not in the same league, but Sloan saw a resemblance between Pippen and Weiguo in Weiguo.

The Rockets' bench.

Gentry easily laid out the tactics: simply defend your own area well, and when attacking, try to find players like Wei Ge first...

......

The timeout has ended, and the game has resumed.

Stockton dribbles the ball up the court, and Harpring makes an off-the-ball run.

"Whoosh~~~"

Stockton instantly passed the ball to Harprin, who caught it and shot.

"Whoosh!!!"

The basketball went into the net.

"Well done!"

When returning to defense, Stockton also gave Harpring a high-five.

Halprin remained silent, pursing his lips...

That off-ball movement was brilliant, but that's something Wei Ge taught him when he was with the 76ers.